Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

180 I Ramnath
way to perpetuate Orientalist dualisms of tradition versus
modernity, the timeless East versus the dynamic We st, or
later as a way to theorize subaltern spaces as external to the
modern political arena.27 Yet whether or not it had ever really
existed in such a pure fo rm, such a republic occupied
the radical imaginary of those within the freedom movement
who sought an alternative to the centralized industrial
state-especially ifit could be claimed as indigenous,
not imported.
The idea also circulated in the movement overseas
between the world wars. Surendranath Karr, editor of the
Independent Hindustan, the New Yo rk-based organ of
the heterodox Lett Hindustan Ghadar Party, wrote eloquently
"On the Village Republics of India" in the March
1921 issue.2x
"In view of the revolutionary movements that are so
rampant in India at the present day;' Karr began, "and of the
decision of the Indian people to set up an independent government
oftheir own in accordance with the wishes of the
people;' there was much speculation regarding "the plans and
programs of the revolutionaries who ;lre directing the furces
to destroy British imperialism." What did they envision?
First, Karr commented on the curious fact that humanity
tends always to "look backward to find the basis of
our present day activities, perhaps in the unconscious mind
or dream of the past. A new thing we want to create, no
doubt; but a great deal of energy is being spent in collecting
the materials." This was a quest for usable precedents. His
intention in seeking hints of the possible shape of the "New
India" was not "to delve into the discovery of whether the